MACKINAW CITY, MI — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, expects the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process for Enbridge Line 5’s tunnel permit application to begin soon following its selection of a contractor to prepare the EIS. The Detroit District, responsible for the tunnel project permit request review, selected Maryland-based Potomac-Hudson Engineering, Inc. as the third-party contractor to prepare the EIS for Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 Tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac.

In June 2021, then-acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jaime A. Pinkham announced USACE will proceed with an EIS for the application.

“I have concluded that an EIS is the most appropriate level of review because of the potential for impacts significantly affecting the quality of the human environment,” Pinkham said in a press release June 21, 2021. “USACE will ensure all potential impacts and reasonable alternatives associated with this project are thoroughly analyzed and will ultimately support a decision on the permit application.”

While Enbridge will pay for the EIS, the contractor is under USACE’s direction while performing the EIS. USACE is responsible for the EIS scope and content to ensure an independent review.

In the coming months, Detroit District will initiate the scoping process by publishing in the Federal Register a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS. USACE expects the EIS process to take about two years to complete.

For the Line 5 tunnel project, Enbridge Energy is proposing to construct a tunnel under the bed of the Straits of Mackinac between Point LaBarbe, St. Ignace, and McGulpin Point in Mackinaw City, Michigan. The tunnel would house a new 30-inch pipeline for light crude oil and liquid natural gas, replacing the existing dual submerged pipelines crossing the Straits of Mackinac, which have been in operation since 1953.